Stanton cursed under his breath as the door was slammed shut in his face. "If there was only a way to get her… Her guard is down now that Jimena is gone…but why isn't she easy to take?" he asked himself, disappearing into the shadows. He made his way to Serena's window and decided to watch her before leaving.
She was so gentle and kind and her friends meant everything to her. Stanton watched as Serena undressed and put on her pajamas. He saw her walking toward the window and Stanton backed away so she could open the window. He watched as she shut off the light in her room and crawled into bed. Stanton made his way into Serena's room, careful to be quiet. He turned her clock against the wall. "Damn things," he mumbled. He made is way into Serena's mind, careful not to wake her but only able to find thoughts about her friends mostly Jimena, her cello recitals, and about Stanton himself.
He drifted back into the shadows and out her of her window just as Serena awoke with a start.
*
"Another bad dream," Serena mumbled, rubbing her temples. She crawled out of bed and into the bathroom where she placed some cold water onto her face. "I've been having more dreams lately… Horrible ones…" Serena closed her eyes. She opened her eyes and walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs. She turned on the light to her kitchen to find Wally, her pet raccoon, sleeping on the kitchen table. His head jerked up and he sat up.
"I didn't mean to wake you up, Wally," Serena told him. "I'm just not in the mood to sleep." She opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. She sat in a chair by the kitchen table and patted Wally on the head.
Wally jumped off the table and into her lap as if he were sensing her sorrow.
*
"Hey, Catty?" came Tianna's voice from behind her.
It was dark outside as Tianna and Catty were walking to Tianna's house. Tianna decided to spend the night again at Catty's house. Catty thought that she could talk to Tianna about Serena. She looked to Tianna, almost forgot that she was walking to her house with her. "Yeah?"
"You think Serena really feels that way?"
Catty caught a sense of sadness in the question. "What do you mean?"
"You think that Serena really thinks that I caused Jimena to be gone?" Tianna ran to Catty's side.
"I don't think she really meant what she said, Tianna. Well…in some sort but she wasn't trying to mean…she's just saying what was true…"
"You think it's my fault?"
"It's no one's fault. Jimena didn't even know… Besides, if it weren't for you then I would still be trapped in the time tunnel." Catty tried to cheer Tianna up. She wished that Serena hadn't said what she said but of course Serena couldn't help it – Jimena was her best friend. "It's not Serena. She'll be just as before soon when she spends more time with Jimena."
Tianna rubbed her temples. "I didn't know that this would be so hard on her. I knew that they were close but…"
"Serena is taking things hard, yeah, but she'll be okay. It's nothing to worry about."
"What about Vanessa?"
"What about her?"
"What she said?" Tianna questioned just as they entered Catty's house.
Catty turned on the kitchen light and the two of them threw that backpacks on the couch. She reached into the fridge and grabbed two cans of soda and threw one to Tianna. "You mean about Stanton?"
She nodded.
"I don't think Serena would turn on us even though Jimena is gone. What if Jimena were still here? I mean, Serena wouldn't even think about it. We've always told her to be careful with Serena… It would cost her a lot if she and Stanton were caught together. We don't want to lose another one."
*
Vanessa lay on her bed with books spread in front of her. She was trying hard to catch up on the geometry homework but today, all of it seemed like a bunch of scribble on paper with shapes. She sighed and jumped off her bed. Vanessa looked at her watched and yawned. It was ten o'clock but she didn't know why she suddenly felt so tired. She made her way downstairs and into the kitchen where her mother had sketches of clothes and also of clothes thrown about. Some of them here hanging off of chairs and others were folded neatly on the couch. "What's up with this, mom?"
"Oh, just trying something out…" her mother said, smiling. "I have to be at work tomorrow early so I can give these clothes to them. They think that they can do something new with them and of course, I'll be the one wearing them."
Vanessa smiled. She loved her mother and she was the only thing she had besides Michael but she could never share her secret with either of them. It was tough hiding it and sometimes Vanessa felt that if she could only tell them then a big weight would be lifted off her shoulders but it just wasn't the right time yet.
"What are you doing down here?" her mother asked. "I thought you were doing homework."
"I was… I just can't do it anymore. My mind isn't concentrating on homework at least not right now."
"Is something going on?" Her mother looked up from what she was doing and raised an eyebrow.
Vanessa shook her head in a lie. "No…it's nothing." She yawned. "I'm going off to bed… Goodnight, mom."
"Goodnight, Vanessa." She kissed her daughter and Vanessa headed back upstairs.